


Dive in

by bookwormally



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Demyx being a key kid that only half remembers that stuff, Gen, Happy Ending, I have many feelings about Sora and Roxas, Kingdom Hearts III Spoilers, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Rescue Missions, ignores secret ending twewy implications, rides on the idea of Vanitas being redeemed, the squad dives for sora
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-11 01:32:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18420062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookwormally/pseuds/bookwormally
Summary: Post-Kingdom Hearts 3, ignores the implied setting of the secret endingSleep, dreams, and death crossover one another and they know now that Sora is clinging to its very edges. They dive to the endless depths for him.





	Dive in

_ Ten of them line up on a beach with stars in one hand and keys in another. _

_ There are many more watching, waiting, and hoping. _

_ Wishes and prayers and magic spells are their guides. _

_ They sleep and dream… _

 

They planned each step in advance, carefully trying to balance as many variables as possible. If they plan, if they’re careful, fewer things might go awry.

The first layer is easy, they drop into it, and make a circle of stars again. The wayfinders in their palms are all of a set, stars that Aqua made of glass and metal and spelled to hold their hearts together through sleep. They trade glances, count each other, and then relax very slightly.

“First step is the easiest,” Vanitas grumbles and tucks his away. His keyblade is in his hand and his gaze sweeps the area around them.

“I thought the first step is always the hardest? Isn’t that how it goes?” Xion tips her head and a few chuckles go around.

Aqua smiles at them all. “Regardless, we’ve made it. Who can feel him?”

Hands go up around the circle, only Aqua, Terra, Axel, and Demyx’s hands staying at their sides.

“Good. Riku?”

“Last time we were trying to awaken the sleeping worlds for our exam. Since we’re just trying to go deeper, I think we just dive again.” Riku swings the tip of his keyblade in a small circle. “The anchor keeps watch here.”

Terra folds an arm over his chest, fist over his heart. “That’s me this time. Good luck, all of you.” He and Aqua reach for each other’s hands at the same time and squeeze. Ven throws himself at Terra for a hug and even Vanitas catches his eye and nods.

Riku holds a hand out and a Dream Eater appears, a cat-like shape dancing around and chiming. “I don’t know if you’ll need it, but just in case.” Terra bends down to pet it as the rest of them prepare for the next dive.

“Second verse same as the first,” Demyx mutters as their keyblades light up again.

Aqua takes the second layer and a ram like Dream Eater that rubs against her legs and makes her laugh.

On the third, Demyx warns them again about the upcoming unreality and summons his own Dream Eater. The Chirithy waves to them all and Ven’s smile could light the darkness for a week.

“It’s going to feel real,” Demyx says and plucks at the strings of his keyblade. “Make it fucking quick. I want out of here. I already gave this place a lifetime,” he mutters. His Chirithy pats his face and he gives it a look, slightly uncomfortable.

Axel claps him on the shoulder. “We’ll be fine! We’ll know it’s a dream when Roxas confesses that he’s loved Riku all along.”

Roxas tries to bludgeon him with a keyblade and Riku just sighs. Kairi smirks at him and lifts her keyblade. “Come on, you idiots. Let’s go.”

The Nightmares start really coming after them as their numbers thin.  They spend the first few minutes in the next layer dispatching the monsters before they can knock one of them out and drag them closer to the abyss. Dream Eaters appear to help, taking on their dark reflections with a vengeance.

The lion-like Dream Eater they leave with Axel isn’t one of Riku’s. They all eye it until Roxas lifts a hand. “It was helping me and Xion. I think I summoned it, maybe?”

“We’re getting closer,” Vanitas agrees, his hand squeezing Ventus’s. “Things are going to start slipping.”

Ven’s gaze has gone a bit dreamy and he gazes at the sky. “It’s not dark enough yet.”

Axel lights up his keyblade and ruffles Ven’s hair since Terra and Aqua aren’t there to do it. “Look for the brightest light around on your way back up! We’ve got enough darkness at home with Vanitas.”

Vanitas rolls his eyes. “Hilarious. Ventus?”

Ven rubs at his face. “Yeah, yeah, I’m good. There’s just...a lot to sort through.”

“Probably better to call for it now.”

Ventus spreads his hands and another Dream Eater joins them. The Chirithy makes one of its strange noises and nuzzles Ven’s chest before jumping over to Vanitas’s shoulder to bump their heads together. Vanitas scratches its cheek and then drops it back on Ventus. “We’re going even deeper.”

The Chirithy seems to droop. “You’re doing something very dangerous…but I know that won’t stop you. I’ll do what I can!”

“Thanks,” Ven says and gives it a squeeze. “Everybody ready?”

They nod and Axel waves before they dive even further.

The Nightmares don’t give them a moment to take in the sights before ambushing them. They’re bigger, tougher, and Riku is calling even stronger Dream Eaters to try and swing the fight more easily in their favor. Rainbow colored dinosaurs and vicious flying horses clash with toxic counterparts and leave bits of dream stuff scattered all around.

They get a break and Riku clenches his hand around his keyblade. “I’ll stay. I don’t know what’s up ahead, but...I’ve got this layer.”

Kairi hugs him tight and they trade a quick kiss, the others politely looking away. “We’ll be as fast as we can,” she promises. Riku’s answering smile is small, but doesn’t shake. They’ve come too far to turn back now. They won’t leave without him.

The scenery is starting to warp in the next layer, familiar buildings running into each other and jutting out strangely; the roads twists over itself and cracks into pieces, floating in gaps with nothing supporting orange stones or flower beds. The Nightmares don’t lessen, but efficient light magic from Roxas, Kairi, and Ventus convinces them quickly to beat a retreat.

“It won’t last,” their pessimistic companion says, red eyes sweeping over their surroundings. Vanitas would say he’s being realistic to combat all these idealists, but even Roxas makes a face at him.

“Doesn’t matter,” Kairi says firmly. “They won’t get past me.” The Dream Eater she summons is a dragon that curls around her back, hissing at the darkness. Kairi pats its side with a grin. “Go get him.”

Another layer, more Nightmares.

“This is almost getting boring!” Roxas smashes another one and wishes he wasn’t actually  _ exhausted _ . It is repetitive, the same Nightmares but bigger coming after them again and again. 

“Take it up with the Sleeping Realms,” Xion fires back before slipping around behind one of the biggest. She and Vanitas are back to back and the combined force of their blizzaga and firaga spells decimates the Nightmares in front of them.

The monsters disperse and they all take a moment to breathe and heal. Potions and ethers go around, there’s only four of them now. But there is no safety like the last time they were all together.

Xion gives Ven and Vanitas’s Chirithy a squeeze. “For luck!” she says with a smile, eyes bright with determination.

Her Dream Eater is a small flower, but one sharp with thorns. Roxas is the last to dive and sees Xion pull out pink tipped swords, confidence flaring around her like fire. She’ll use anything, everything she has to guard their way back.

Three of them land in a place that looks like the realm of darkness and then Twilight Town, then the Land of Departure, then the realm of darkness again. Nightmares do not come at them alone this time, Heartless lunging from the shadows as well.

Light spells are harder to call now, but still hit like lightning strikes against their foes.

They’re supposed to take time, figure out who has the strongest pull now that they’re getting so close, but they’re not given that time.

Vanitas shoves the two of them together and orders them further on as emotions claw free of his shadow like the monsters from the dark. Bright red eyes burn across every face and Ventus doesn’t even get the chance to hold him close again. Vanitas’s darkness spreads in a fury, grabbing and clawing and chasing down every speck of shadow that would do them harm.

Ven calls his name, but there’s no time. Roxas can see more of them coming and they’re just in Vanitas’s way. He could protect them or he could give this fight all his attention. They need to go. He grabs Ven’s hand and with their Chirithy giving encouragement, they go one more step closer.

The darkness and sleep are thick and Roxas sways on his feet. It would be so easy to lie down, to sleep… He’s at home, hearing the tram rumble past his bedroom, knowing their vacation still has more than a few days left...

Ven grabs his arms hard enough to bruise and shakes him. He knows what it feels like, to sleep for so very, very long. Their Chirithy glows like a lamp on his shoulder and the world around them is nothing but creeping fog. Death and dreams close over one another and this place feels like both.

Roxas shudders and calls his keyblades back, clinging to their light and dark and how they feel strong in his hands. They’re so close, tracing the very edge of the abyss. Ven relaxes slightly and moves their Chirithy to his arms instead.

“You go, Roxas.”

“Are you sure? You were with him the longest.”

Ven’s smile is almost enough to chase more of the fog away. “Yeah, we were, but...you’re his other.”

It’s true. Roxas and Sora are reflections of one another, tied together in a way that’s different from Sora’s other connections. He can feel it now, that trembling thread that has thickened into a rope pulling incessantly at his heart.

Sora is close.

There’s no time to waste. The sooner they have him, the sooner they can retreat back to the safety of the waking world.

Roxas dives one last time, knowing that all their friends are fighting to hold the chain together.

It’s dark when he opens his eyes. There’s nothing around, he can barely see himself. Even his keyblades seem far away, not quite out of reach, but it would take a huge effort to reach them. 

He slips his hand into his pocket and pulls out his wayfinder. It glows softly with a warm light, the connection back to all of them, and the way home. Roxas keeps a tight grip on it, grateful for the way the light projects around him. He starts walking, following that strong pull that he knows will lead him to Sora.

For a long while, nothing changes. He walks and walks and walks through the dark with no one, but himself for company. The light stays the same in his hand. It doesn’t brighten, but it doesn’t fade. The same is true of the pull, not stronger, not weaker, it simply pulls at him.

He wonders if this is it. If it will lead to the edge of the abyss and then over it, down to where nothing exists. Nothing and only nothing, where nobody will crawl back out, not even a Nobody like him.

It’s so stupid a thought that he snorts to himself.

And something echoes through the dark just on the edge of understanding. Roxas goes silent, listening for all he’s worth. Silence echoes back at him.

No, he heard something. He heard  _ someone _ .

Roxas takes a breath and calls out into the dark, “Sora?”

It is so very quiet around him, only the pounding of his heart for a long moment.

_ “-there?” _

It’s not his voice. It’s not his or Ven’s or Xion’s or even Vanitas’s.

_ You deserve to be your own person. I wanted to tell you that. _

The first time he felt like someone else actually thought he deserved to exist, that voice had spoken to him, the one person it felt like should have been the one to wish him nothing the most.

“Sora!” Roxas shouts it and runs further into the dark. “Sora, we’re here! We’re bringing you back!” The wayfinder squeezes between his fingers, hard enough to leave marks, and he thinks of the one Sora has. The first wayfinder, one made of seashells and love and with a smile just for him.  _ It’s my good luck charm! _

“Bring him back to us,” Roxas gasps to the one in his hand. “We’re all here for him. Sora!”

The fog clears and Roxas gasps and skids to a stop. He is an inch from the edge of a circular platform and quickly staggers back two steps. His legs are shaking and he looks around frantically, heart pounding.

The light below his feet is so dim, but still there. The boy on the glass is asleep, but his friends faces smile for him, Sora’s warmth reflecting back in their eyes. The island they left behind so long ago to walk through dreams is waiting.

Roxas walks slowly to the center and there is no one but him on the platform. “Sora,” he calls, quieter than before. “Please, answer me.”

He lifts the wayfinder to his heart, the one he grew because of his friends, because of his feelings, because Sora kept it safe for him even when he’d given up on his life. It hurts and aches, but he feels and it connects them.

The wayfinder glows brighter and a ghost appears in front of him.

Sora’s image wavers like mist, but his smile is big.  _ “Roxas,” _ he says not unlike a whisper on the wind.

He knows he cries, but Roxas smiles back. He reaches out and takes Sora’s hand, squeezing it tight.

Sora’s edges stop wavering, stop melting into the shadows and reforming again. Roxas holds him, holds the core of Sora’s self and will not let go.

“Look sharp,” he tells his other. “You’ve got a lot of people waiting for you and we don’t have time to waste. Give me your wayfinder.”

“Kairi’s lucky charm?” Sora pulls it out and Roxas puts his over it. More light flashes, magic reaching out and connecting them, tying them together. “What was that?”

Roxas pockets his wayfinder and scrubs at his eyes. “The way home. Come on.”

He keeps a tight hold on Sora’s hand and summons Oathkeeper into the other. A keyhole appears above them and they go through it, waking just a little.

Ven grabs Sora in a hug immediately and the most empty parts of Sora fill in. Roxas keeps his hand and Ven opens the way to waking for that layer, leaving the foggy dark behind.

Vanitas gets punched and then hugged tightly by Ven for sending them on so quickly. He looks worn and the Unversed around him are small and quiet, hiding around his feet. He still has plenty of bite and looks over Sora like he’s eyeing him for another fight. He claps Sora on the back and the shadow under him and the dark in Sora’s eyes looks that much more solid.

Ven opens the way again, Vanitas holding their Chirithy and Ventus’s hand.

Xion is dispatching Nightmares with a helmet over her face, but it and the swords vanish once the monsters are gone. She offers Sora a hand which he knocks aside for a one-armed hug instead. When they lean back, the color in his face is brighter and he looks almost solid again.

Xion gives him a very thorough lookover before opening the keyhole out. “I can’t take you to Kairi if you look bad! She’ll get mad and we don’t have time for that.”

Sora looks teary at the very thought and Roxas squeezes the hand he has yet to let go of. “Don’t start crying yet. We might lose some of you.”

It’s enough to make him laugh a little and they’re still smiling when they get to Kairi.

She’s almost scarily silent as she runs toward them and Roxas half-expects a punch. But Sora knows her better and Roxas lets him go so they can fold their arms around each other, shaking and whispering apologies. They refuse to let go of each other, Kairi keeping one of Sora’s hands as she wields her keyblade with the other.

Sora takes Roxas’s hand again before they leave that layer of sleep behind and Roxas is glad for it.

Riku cries this time as he hugs Sora to him tightly, Kairi patting his back. “No more leaving anyone behind,” they promise each other and Roxas knows they’ll seal it with a too-sweet fruit once they’re home.

Sora looks like himself again, worn and tired, but solid and real. Light in his eyes and his heart, but with a shadow longer than it used to be following behind him. He’s  _ real _ and they’re almost home.

Gathering the others, waking over and over is almost too easy. There are more hugs, more tears, and when they finally reach Terra again, sighs of relief. They all hug, even Axel and Demyx, and then they make a circle.

They hold out their stars, ten of glass and metal and one of travel-worn shells that still shines with love. Light and magic tie them all together and they lift keyblades to the sky. It shatters, the world of dreams breaking apart, and they wake.

Roxas has Sora’s hand and is the one who wakes first, the keyblade’s chosen hero of light lying beside him.

Sora opens his eyes in the waking world with the sand warm beneath him, the sound of the waves in his ears, and the feeling of home beating strongly in his heart. He sits up slowly and watches the sunset over the ocean as tears slide down his cheeks. It’s beautiful.

Fingers squeeze his, solid,  _ real _ , and he turns to look at Roxas beside him. The blond smiles tiredly. “Welcome home.”

Sora breathes in and smiles even as the tears keep falling. His throat is too tight to say anything, but Roxas chuckles like he has.

The first body slams into him from the other side, Kairi taking another hug and then Riku has them both from behind. There are too many hands and not enough Sora, but it’s enough to be close to hear him laugh as his friends, his family welcome him back.

Their hero has made it home.

**Author's Note:**

> This was going to focus more on action for each character and then I got caught up in the more lyrical part of my brain and focused on the setting and general flow instead.
> 
> I hope it was enjoyable!


End file.
